Summit Gist

Camp Commandant Josef Kramer known as the "Beast of Belsen" paraded in irons before being sent to a POW camp to await trial. Belsen, April 1945 Josef Kramer  (10 November 1906 – 13 December 1945) was a  Hauptsturmführer  and the  Commandant  of  Auschwitz-Birkenau  (from 8 May 1944 to 25 November 1944) and of the  Bergen-Belsen concentration camp  (from December 1944 to its liberation on 15 April 1945). Dubbed  The Beast of Belsen  by camp inmates, he was a German  Nazi war criminal , directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. He was detained by the  British Army  after the  Second World War , convicted of  war crimes , and  hanged  on the  gallows  in the prison at  Hamelin  by British executioner  Albert Pierrepoint . He joined the  Nazi Party  in 1931 and the  SS  in 1932. His SS training led him into work as a prison guard and, after...

Following Japan’s surrender at the end of the Second World War, the horrific military atrocities were brought to light as war criminals were put on trial. Historical photo collector Hsu Chung-mao provides descriptions and images of that period Killing spree for sport The infamous “100-man killing contest” also left a significant mark in history. On 13 December 1937, the day after the Japanese captured Nanjing, the Tokyo Nichi-Nichi Shimbun reported that Second Lieutenants Toshiaki Mukai and Tsuyoshi Noda had engaged in a competition to kill 100 enemies before entering Nanjing. By the time they attacked Purple Mountain (Zijin Mountain, 紫金山) on 12 December, they had met their target. At noon on 10 December, they met with notched swords in hand, and Noda said, “Hey, I’ve killed 105 people, what about you?” Mukai replied, “I’ve killed 106!” The two laughed. While Mukai was up by one, they did not know who had reached the 100 mark first, so they extended the target to 150 people. The Nanjin...